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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Yes, I'm still around. I'm having a hard time getting back into the swing of things, but I wanted to let you all know that we loved the honeymoon! The resort was absolutely perfect!

To recap, we paid 3k for 7 nights at Couples Negril, that price includes our flights out of Milwaukee, transfers to and from the airport, and a complementary catamaran cruise through Island Routes. I think it was worth every penny!

The pool area was so nice, with a swim-up bar and pool volleyball every afternoon. We spent most of our time here.

The beach at Couples was perfect, much nicer than the beach at Sandals Negril and Riu Palace - totally smooth sand, no rocks, large and long...you could walk forever!

The catamaran cruise was added on as a special deal through Cheap Caribbean, and it was SO amazing - we got to drive the boat!

I wasn't good at it, that's for sure. The staff took my camera and got some awesome shots of us. I can't thank them enough!

Shaun is obsessed with this 'eating the sun' picture - we tried to get more like it throughout the trip.

We got a funny one of me jumping holding some big leaves...nerd!

The food at the resort was decent at the buffets, and really great at the sit-down restaurants. We ate at the asian restaurant twice, the food was so delicious! This is about all we did with the chopsticks, we are 'fork' people. I guess that's because we are uncoordinated.

I also must mention the booze - they have TOP shelf stuff here. Grey Goose martinis, good whiskey, and lots of champagne in the evenings. I loved it!

(BTW - there is no tipping allowed at this resort. That really makes it easier to not have to carry around cash wherever you go - it was amazing)

All the drinks definitely helped me take my mind off the dozens of bug bites, heat blisters, and sunburn I got by the third day. It doesn't matter that I was in all the same places as Shaun, he got no bites, no rashes, and hardly burned. I was under a hat, an umbrella, with SPF 85 on and I still got all messed up! Stupid pale, sensitive skin. Paradise didn't agree with it, that's for sure. Oh by the way, don't visit Margaritaville if you stay in Negril. It's a dump, and this tiny margarita was $10.50. Say wha??

Shaun made me feel better with a note in the sand. AWE.

The last couple nights we were there, there was some burning going on nearby. I heard some people say it was old sugar cane crops, others said it was just trash - but we saw this Saturday night:

It looked like the whole resort was on fire! And Sunday, ash and burned leaves covered every surface - including the pool and all the walkways. The resort staff was up very early hosing everything down, and they never did get the pool very clean. When we woke up Monday for our flight, the smell of smoke was so overpowering that we were incredibly happy we were leaving. If we had been just starting our vacation, I would be so pissed! That is the only big negative we experienced. And the shuttle ride to and from the airport was about 1.5 hours, so that was definitely tiresome.

That didn't stop us from having a wonderful time, though! We can't wait to come back someday soon.

If you have any burning questions, I am happy to answer them. Please make sure you have a link to your email or blog in your comment so I can answer you. I can't wait to start working on the house again...and catching up with all your blogs, of course!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Peeps, the wedding was a screaming success! I can't wait to see my professional pics, this is one of my 'preview' pics and I am in love!

The other previews can be seen at Matt Haas Photography's facebook page here. They did a stunning job, especially with the photos we took inside the store window at TJ Maxx....holla! We also set up my camera and tripod, and a lovely friend borrowed me a sweet backdrop and two professional lights. We got so many wonderful pictures in our DIY photobooth.....

And possibly the best prop...

I'm ready to get back to normal and start reading everyone's posts again...of course, not while I'm relaxing in Negril this week...you will just have to wait until I'm back from paradise to hear from me. Cheers!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Less than three days until the wedding. I'm in serious freakout mode...the weather is mocking me with a nice sunny 60 degree day on Friday and a cold rainy suckfest for our wedding day. This is unacceptable for our outdoor ceremony. I've been informed that the backup plan is having the ceremony in the venue's 'River Club' which has carpet, red walls, and a yellow ceiling. I can hear your collective gasps as you read that. It's like my worst nightmare. I've been keeping my mind off it with all the other little things that I've made for the wedding, like these table numbers that have funny housewife postcards from Anne Taintor on the other side...this is my favorite project!

I also used some old calendars to make cute framed 'messages' for various areas around the reception. This one is for the bar, clearly!

We're using mini gumball machines as place cards, aqua for guests, red for the bride and groom's table.

I also bought some plain votive holders from Michaels and added ribbon to them using my awesome Xyron tool! Side note - if you are looking for good votives, Michael's value pack of 24 votives are awesome quality. They burn for over 9 hours!

All of my red ribbon holders are ready to go, also. I am wondering what the heck I will do with all these when the day is over? I may ask people to take them home, because I don't want to sell my hard work!

I also made a pretty cute card box - I will share a how-to later on.

A couple weekends ago, I had a sweet bachelorette party...thanks to tiny ninja Jean - she brought candy necklaces, bracelets, and huge suckers for our night out. I had to set up my camera on the tripod to capture the hawtness....

Oh, and four of us wore tutus and crazy tights. Yes, we are all over 30. Ok, Katie (yellow tutu) isn't...but she's pregnant, so that's close enough!

We went out to dinner and then to the most rad nightclub in Milwaukee, Victors! They know how to treat their VIP ladies.

I didn't drink all of it myself. I think I tried, though!

When we got back, the three remaining chicks decided to play with the camera and tripod for a little while, and we captured so many hilarious and huggy-kissy photos - I love that I set it up before we left.

And the finale - I have no words for this shot!

Too funny. I will hopefully get a couple pics of the wedding up on Sunday, before we leave for Jamaica...I'm setting up my camera/tripod at the reception with a professional backdrop and umbrella lights - so we will have our own little 'photobooth' going on. I can't wait to see the pictures! Have a great weekend and please send me good 'sunny' vibes!

About Me

My name is Sara. I am a home owner/renovator, photographer, and stay at home mom in the Chicago area trying to cram all kinds of projects into the time my son is at school. Ashford is 3, and I had our second baby Zach December 2015, so things are pretty busy around here! I like slightly inappropriate humor, wine, and stalking house blogs. I love starting new DIY projects and sometimes hate finishing them. I love taking portraits of families, children and couples whenever I can. This blog is all about the projects my husband and I tackle, the projects that fizzle, and the funny things that happen to us along the way.